Sergio Perez has been unable to become the top racer of Red Bull due to the emergence of Max Verstappen. The Dutchman is on another level. He is quite literally unstoppable at the moment. In fact, Verstappen has been dominating the F1 grid since last year. Even though he won his first driver’s world championship in 2021. But Max’s dominance is a unique example in the history of Formula One. Very few racers in history have had such a great win percentage and consistency.
Last year, Max Verstappen won 15 races out of just 22 Grands Prix. Moreover, Verstappen became the new record holder for most wins in a season. The Mexican still holds second place in Driver’s World Championship. But Max Verstappen is way ahead of him after winning eight straight Grands Prix. Recently, Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok, on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, discussed the impact of the sheer dominance of Max Verstappen on his teammate and on the rest of the grid.
Sky Sports F1 Panelist Says Red Bull Is Putting An Awful Lot Of Pressure On Sergio Perez
At first, Karun Chandhok discussed with David Croft, Sky Sports F1 commentator and fellow panelist. They talked about the coincidence of Red Bull’s breaking of the winner’s trophy. Red Bull broke the winner’s trophy for the second time in their F1 history. Later, Chandhok mentioned the only thing Red Bull broke other than their winner’s trophy is Sergio Perez. Both Chandhok and Croft remember the race in Baku and how well Sergio Perez overtook his teammate. But since then, Max Verstappen has always got ahead of Checo, putting 22 seconds in 27 laps on his teammate.
Every single time since the Miami Grand Prix’s Lap 41. Moreover, the same thing happened in Spa. Hence, Karun Chandhok says the only concern is if Sergio Perez is the fourth racer whom Max Verstappen broke. Chandhok says that Verstappen gets the main focus. But Checo has to follow the rule to take half a second pace off, perhaps, because Red Bull is happy with Max delivering at a level they want. What the Sky Sports F1 panelists are trying to say is the immense pressure the Red Bull team put on Sergio Perez.
Max Verstappen’s Dominance Is Not Healthy For His Teammate
Currently, the Dutchman is enjoying an eight-match winning streak. Moreover, he has won 10 races already after 12 Grands Prix. There are still 10 to go. This year the Dutchman can break his own record. He is on his way to breaking innumerable records in the sport. Most of them he can break this season itself. On the other hand, Sergio Perez has always been struggling with consistency. He is also driving the same car that Max is driving, but he is not able to extract the most performance out of it. Instead, he finds himself facing troubles in the qualifying sessions.
However, he had won a couple of races early this year. He showed promise and even stated that he wanted to be the new world champion. Moreover, Checo mentioned that he has a better understanding of the car this year than the previous year. Hence, there was no reason why Sergio Perez could not win more races this year. He won two last year and a couple again this season. But he started to fade away from the Monaco Grand Prix. Fans expected him to do well in the sprint format of the Monaco Grand Prix after Sergio Perez won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He became the first driver to win two races in Baku, Azerbaijan. But later, he lost his consistency and let his teammate gain a massive lead over him.